


Cooking Class

by Katsudonace



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (Blink and you'll miss it though) - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Keith and Shiro are Siblings, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-16 11:22:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13635273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katsudonace/pseuds/Katsudonace
Summary: After a mission gone wrong, Shiro ends up in a healing pod, which upsets Keith. To cheer him up, Lance and Hunk devise a plan to distract Keith from worrying about his brother.





	Cooking Class

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the second place winner, [thatgirlhidinginthecorner](http://thatgirlhidinginthecorner.tumblr.com/), of [my main's](http://keithphantom.tumblr.com/) 500 follower giveaway. Thatgirlhidinginthecorner wanted a Hurt/Comfort Klunk fic where Keith was stressing over someone in a pod, so Lance and Hunk help him de-stress by baking a pie.
> 
> Huge thanks to [shootymcshoot](https://shootymcshoot.tumblr.com/) and [genericpaladin](https://genericpaladin.tumblr.com/) for betaing! And then a special thanks to [sakuragimichi](http://sakuragimichi.tumblr.com/), who helped me write this out.

Keith didn’t know how it happened. Well, he did. He’d been there. He’d seen Shiro take the hit, but he didn’t know how he had allowed his brother to get hurt in the first place. What started as a simple battle with a small Galra fleet soon turned deadly as none of them had known that a second fleet was on its way. They’d been in their individual lions picking off the small ships when the second wave came out of nowhere.

Since they had the element of surprise, the Galra hit hard, not giving the paladins time to form Voltron. The fleet fired heavily on them. Thanks to Allura and the Castleship, they’d managed to fend them off long enough to make an escape, but not before one of the larger cannons fired upon Black. It’d happened so quickly that Keith barely had time to react, except to drag the sparking lion back to the hangar with Hunk’s help.

When they were safe, Shiro hadn’t left his lion. The others wanted to wait, but Keith knew that something was wrong since it wasn’t like his brother to stay in his lion more than needed. Black had opened for Keith effortlessly, and he found Shiro’s unconscious body in the cockpit, blood dripping from his head, leaking out of his helmet. Keith dragged Shiro out, and Coran helped get him into a healing pod. Only it seemed that the damage was much more serious than the head injury had led them to believe; his brother was now in the healing pod for internal bleeding and a few broken ribs if the scanner was to be believed.

That was how Keith ended up here, sitting in front of the stasis pods, waiting for the moment that Shiro would wake up. It was different than waiting for Lance. With Lance, he’d been more nervous than worried because of their bonding moment. He’d thought that maybe it wouldn’t mean anything, especially since Lance was already dating Hunk. Yet, as it turned out, it did, and the both of them began dating Keith, too. This wasn’t a nervous excitement, wondering if his feelings were returned, though.

Shiro’s life hung in the balance. His half-brother, who had taken Keith in when no one else would. He’d given him direction, a family. Even when everyone else had dismissed Keith as a problem child, Shiro had stayed. If anything happened to him, Keith didn’t know if he could forgive himself. After everything Shiro had done for him, it felt as if Keith had failed him by allowing him to get this badly injured.

Pulling his knees to his chest, Keith rested his head against them. He didn’t look up when he heard a knock on the metal behind him. Footsteps neared, and Keith could see long legs out of the corner of his eye. Lance cleared his throat. When Keith didn’t answer, he cleared his throat again, waiting for Keith to acknowledge his presence. Keith was feeling stubborn, though, and he turned his head, continuing to pretend that Lance hadn’t entered the room.

“Really?” Lance huffed. Instead of leaving, he plopped himself down next to Keith. “You’re really going to ignore me?” Keith didn’t say anything and narrowed his eyes, glaring at one of the empty pods. He could feel Lance hovering, as he did when he didn’t know how to comfort him. “Well, fine, guess you don’t want the surprise that me and Hunk worked tirelessly on just for you then.”

Keith could hear the worry underneath Lance’s annoyance, which was the only reason Keith relented and looked at Lance. There were bags under his eyes and he looked as tired as Keith felt, which made Keith feel guilty for ignoring him. Lance looked up to Shiro. He saw him as a hero and a teammate. It was selfish for Keith to think that he was the only one worried about Shiro when the rest of the team would be, too.

“What kind of surprise?” Keith ventured cautiously. He knew the two of them cared about him, but he couldn’t think of what they could have prepared for him, especially since they were technically still on the run from the second Galra fleet. “It better not be some kind of prank, Lance. The last time you had a ‘surprise’ for me, my hair ended up white for a week.”

Lance put his hands up defensively. “Hey, hey! I wouldn’t do that in your time of need, even if it was funny.” He reached out, and Keith leaned into it, allowing Lance’s hand to rest on his shoulder. “And besides, this is a surprise from me _and_ Hunk. When has Hunk ever pranked you like I have?”

“I guess you’re right.” Shrugging, Keith added, “He is the better boyfriend out of the two of you, after all.” A shocked look appeared on Lance’s face, and Keith took that opportunity to lean in and kiss him quickly, enjoying how flustered Lance always got when either him or Hunk did so. “I’m just kidding. You know that. Take me to the surprise.”

“Jerk,” Lance mumbled as redness continued to blossom on his face, working its way up to his ears. He got to his feet, and Keith followed, sparing one last look at Shiro’s form in the pod, praying silently for his brother’s speedy recovery. Keith then turned his attention back to Lance, following him through the castle. But it felt as if he was on autopilot, barely paying attention to where they were going, his mind drifting back to Shiro.

It wasn’t until Lance stopped and Keith ran into his back that Keith realized they were in the kitchen. Hunk stood near the oven and Keith could see his baking supplies spread out on the counter. They weren’t exactly like what they had on Earth, and there was always a funny aftertaste with some of the fruit pies, but Hunk tried his best. Maybe Keith was biased, but he enjoyed Hunk’s cooking regardless.

Keith glanced around the kitchen, trying to pinpoint if something was out of place. He could see Hunk and Lance watching him expectantly, as if waiting for him to say something about the surprise that they had sprung on him. “Uh,” he said, wrinkling his nose, trying to determine if they’d be disappointed or not. He took in a breath, deciding that honesty would be the best option. At least he hoped. This was his first relationship. “What’s the surprise?”

Lance and Hunk exchanged a look, but they didn’t seem upset. Instead, Lance took a few steps backwards, holding out his hands as Hunk did the same. “It’s a cooking class!” Hunk shouted excitedly, making Keith raise an eyebrow questioningly. “See, everyone is stressed, but you most of all, and when you get stressed, you usually train, but you haven’t, so I thought maybe the three of us could try cooking something.”

“It’s totally optional,” Lance added, seeming to sense the unease beginning to form in Keith. He was always good at sensing the emotions in others. “If you want to say no, you can. It’s just, we’re both worried about you, and we were hoping that maybe a cooking class might help get your mind off things, maybe.”

Keith turned the thought over in his head. He didn’t know if he would be that great at cooking, since he’d never done it before. Shiro had always been a bad cook, but he tried his hardest. Then when Keith was living on his own, he didn’t have a kitchen, just the machines and whatever take-out he could get from town. Still, he reminded himself that it wouldn’t just be him cooking. Hunk would be there to point out if he made any mistakes, and Lance would be there for moral support, so he doubted that it could be that bad.

Nodding, Keith said, “Yeah, alright. I’ll take your ‘cooking class’, but only because you guys seem so excited about it. Don’t expect me to do this again.” Especially if he was horrible at it, since he had a feeling that he was going to be the worst cook like Shiro. “So, where do I start? I have no idea what we’re even making.”

“We’re making a pie!” Hunk extended a hand, encouraging Keith to come closer to the counter. When Keith relented and approached, he slung an arm over Keith’s shoulder, pressing him up against his body, which was comforting in a way. “I already prepared the dough and have some filling since those take awhile, but what we’re going to do is cut the dough and then make the rest of the pie. Simple, right?”

“Right,” Keith agreed, leaning into Hunk. It really did seem simple. All he had to do was cut the dough and fill the pie. It couldn’t be that hard. Movement caught his attention, he turned his head just in time to see Lance hop up onto one of the free counters. Keith pointed him. “What’s he going to be doing?”

“Supervising and offering you sweet words of encouragement,” Lance said, placing his hands behind his head. He winked at Keith. “And you’re doing amazing, sweetie.” Despite his best effort, blush found its way to Keith’s cheeks. “I helped Hunk make the filling, anyway, so I think I’ve earned getting to watch my boyfriends bake.”

“Do you have to do it from the counter?” Hunk asked in exasperation. He kept one arm around Keith while using the other to shoo Lance away from the counter. “Come on, Lance, you know the rules of the kitchen. I don’t want your ass where I cook, no matter how cute it might be.”

Lance let out a dramatic sigh but ultimately hopped down from the counter. He moved over to Hunk and Keith, placing his arm over Hunk’s so that they were both embracing Keith. Before he began dating the both of them, Keith might have thought being this close to two people would be claustrophobic. But instead, he found it comforting. Not that he would admit it out loud, but he felt protected standing with them like this.

They stood like that for a moment longer before Hunk broke away to begin giving his explanation on how to properly prepare a pie. Lance remained by Keith’s side with his arm around Keith’s shoulder, listening to Hunk’s lesson as well. Keith tried to pay attention but found his mind drifting back to Shiro in the healing pod. He’d never seen Shiro that injured before, so it was hard not to worry.

“He stopped listening,” Lance’s voice rang out flatly, pulling Keith from his thoughts. A hand found its way into Keith’s hair, and Keith let out a small hum as Lance’s fingertips began to massage the base of his neck, letting his thumb curl into some of Keith’s hair. “We really don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, Keith. It’s just we didn’t know how else to distract you.”

“I’m sorry.” Keith cupped Lance’s cheek, pulling him into a kiss, before he pulled away to go give one to Hunk. He knew they put a lot of effort into this and were trying their hardest to help him as best as they could. “I really want to do this. I’m going to try harder, guys. I promise.”

Lance gave Keith a dubious look, but Hunk ignored him, putting his hand on the small of Keith’s back to encourage him to get closer to the counter. “Maybe if you do it as I talk?” Hunk suggested while holding a knife out to him. Keith took it, weighing it in his hand. “Now, you’re going to want to cut the dough exactly how I tell you, otherwise it’s not going to fit.”

Keith nodded. “Yeah, I’ve got it.” He then allowed Hunk to begin walking him through making the pie crust and adding the filling. Lance hovered behind the two of them, peeking over Keith’s head to watch their progress. It was distracting, but not in the way that they had intended. Lance hovering over his shoulder was making him nervous. Slamming down the knife, he turned to face Lance. “Can you stop that?”

A hurt look appeared on Lance’s face, and Hunk put his hands on Keith’s shoulders, thumbs working into the tense muscles there. “Lance,” Hunk said seriously, “you’re crowding us a little bit. I know you’re worried, but do you think you could give me and Keith some space as we work? Maybe get the stove ready or something?”

Though he hesitated for a moment, Lance eventually slunk away, exiting the kitchen to give Keith and Hunk space. Keith felt guilty. He knew Lance had some issues he was working through and it wasn’t fair to treat him that way, but he couldn’t stop from feeling irritated by him hovering so close. Maybe it was because he was so worried about Shiro that he was on a shorter fuse than usual, but that didn’t mean he had the right to snap at one of his boyfriends like that.

“Thanks, Hunk,” Keith said, feeling less tense by the second as Hunk continued to work his hands into Keith’s shoulders. He took a shaky breath as he began to calm down. “I’m fine now.” He turned, wrapping his arms around Hunk, closing his eyes when Hunk hugged him back. “Do you think you can help me make something for Lance? To make up for yelling at him?”

Hunk looked down at Keith and grinned. “Sure thing, buddy.” He pressed a kiss into the top of Keith’s hair. “But I don’t think you have to make anything up to him. He was just upset because he’s been so worried about you. It was his idea to find a way to get your mind off your brother. I know he doesn’t act like it sometimes, but once you get to know him, you’ll learn that underneath it all, Lance just wants to take care of everyone.”

“Yeah, I know that.” Keith looked down at the floor. “It’s why I like him.” He hated it, but his cheeks began to burn. “And you. You’re both the best boyfriends that I could ask for.” His fingers twisted into the fabric of Hunk’s vest. “I’m lucky to have the both of you taking care of me. I didn’t think I’d get one boyfriend, and now I have two. It’s hard to wrap my head around that sometimes. Thanks for being patient with me.”

“Hey, you don’t have to thank me. We both know this is hard on you.” Hunk began to card his fingers through Keith’s hair, relaxing him even further, and Keith honestly didn’t know what he did to deserve him. “We should finish making the pie,” he said, pulling away from Keith. “We don’t want to keep Lance waiting for too long.”

“Maybe.” A small smirk appeared on Keith’s face, but he still went back to the pie. Preparing it was easier than Keith thought it would be, too. Or maybe it was just because he had Hunk leading him through step-by-step, gently correcting him whenever he made a mistake. Keith had to admit, Hunk was a very good teacher.

It wasn’t much longer until the pie was in the oven, and Keith was breathing easier. He felt more relaxed, and he could see why Hunk baked when he was feeling stressed. Only now that it was in the oven, that meant he had to apologize to Lance for snapping at him, which he wasn’t looking forward to.

Keith left the kitchen without Hunk, who chose to stay behind to watch over the pie and give them time to work out the mess themselves, so they wouldn’t rely on him to sort out their problems every time they fought. He thought he’d have to go far to find Lance, but instead found him curled up next to the kitchen door. His eyes were closed, and his breathing even. He’d fallen asleep waiting for them to finish.

Kneeling down, Keith ran a hand through Lance’s hair, slowly rousing him from his slumber. Lance blinked and yawned, raising a hand to rub at his eyes. “Done already?” Lance asked between another yawn. He stretched, back audibly cracking. “It feels like I just fell asleep. What time is it?”

“We’re in space. How should I know?” Keith asked, his voice was teasing and a small smile on his lips. “Hunk is waiting in the kitchen for us. The pie is in the oven. I think I did a pretty good job.” He bit his lip, not certain how to say that he was sorry. “I made it for you. Hunk showed me how to decorate the crust, and I put your name on it.”

Lance chuckled, voice a bit husky from sleep. “Thanks, Mullet. Guess that means Allura, Pidge, and Coran are going to have to get another pie, because I’m not sharing.” He frowned, reaching out to cup Keith’s cheek. “I’m sorry for hovering and making you nervous. I’m not as good at this boyfriend thing as Hunk is, so you’re going to have to give me some slack.”

“What!? No, Lance.” Placing his hand on top of Lance’s, Keith nuzzled into his hand. He watched Lance blush, and Keith honestly thought that would never get old. “I came out here to apologize to you. I know you were just trying to comfort me. I was tense and worried about Shiro. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

“Guess we’re both idiots, then.” Lance smiled and began getting to his feet, pulling Keith with him. “Let’s go keep Hunk company.” He took Keith’s hand, entwining their fingers together, and waggled his eyebrows at him. “Maybe we can do something fun while we wait for the pie to cook to further get your mind off things?”

It was Keith’s turn to blush, even though he knew Lance only meant kissing. Still, he smiled and allowed Lance to lead him back to Hunk. While he was still worried about Shiro, he didn’t feel as tense as he did previously. He didn’t know what he would do without Hunk and Lance watching over him, and he was grateful that they did.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on my writing journal at [KatsudonAce](https://katsudonace.tumblr.com/) or on my main at [Keithphantom](http://keithphantom.tumblr.com/).


End file.
